How much time to allow to each Epcot World showcase pavilion WITH Kidspot craft?

[jewel71]

Our kids are small (3 ages 7 and under), so I definitely want to make time at Epcot for the KidSpots to do the crafts, but I'm not sure how much time to allow for that. Can anyone elaborate on the type of crafts they have the children doing? Are they short, little 5 min. projects or something more elaborate?

To not feel rushed, how much time should I allow for each pavilion (not including shows/rides in the ones that offer them)?

 

[lanejudy]

Last time we did Kidcot was a couple of years ago, but it really wasn't a craft. We collected "charms" for a mask. The first stop the child could (if they want) color the mask. Every station after that had the same masks and you just got the "charm" for that country. Really nothing more to do unless the child wanted to color again.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[DSLRuser]

The kids color with markers and the cast member from the countries interact with them.

if you kid is really into coloring, they can be there for 20 mins. Or you can herd them in and herd them out in 30 seconds. Just long enough to get the stamp.

When it is not busy, the cast members will take time and interact more and sometimes clolor with the kids.

Bottom line is, its all up to you.

 

[tb1972]

I think it depends greatly on the CM's in the various countries. My kids always have very good interaction with the CM's in Norway which takes longer. However, the CM's in France were very quiet and we moved along quickly.

 

[Alesia]

The kidcot coloring won't take too long, but they may want to spend quite a bit more time on other things than you think they will.

I planned on about 45 minutes per country, and that went out the window when my daughter spent over an hour playing with the toys in the shops in the China pavilion. We had a full day plus a couple hours of another day and it wasn't enough. Next trip we'll plan on 1 day for future world and 2 days for the world showcase.

 

[mm1971]

Our kids are small (3 ages 7 and under), so I definitely want to make time at Epcot for the KidSpots to do the crafts, but I'm not sure how much time to allow for that. Can anyone elaborate on the type of crafts they have the children doing? Are they short, little 5 min. projects or something more elaborate?

To not feel rushed, how much time should I allow for each pavilion (not including shows/rides in the ones that offer them)?

We planned and took 20-30 minutes for the craft activity in each country. Make sure to add additional time for any rides or shopping as well. Mexico is easily 45 minutes to an hour for us with the boat ride.

 

[jewel71]

The kidcot coloring won't take too long, but they may want to spend quite a bit more time on other things than you think they will.

I planned on about 45 minutes per country, and that went out the window when my daughter spent over an hour playing with the toys in the shops in the China pavilion. We had a full day plus a couple hours of another day and it wasn't enough. Next trip we'll plan on 1 day for future world and 2 days for the world showcase.

We have two days planned for Epcot, but if we're spending 45 min at each country, then no, we won't have enough time. Sigh. My kids are young and can't go from 9am to 9pm. I also have 2 days in MK, 1 day at AK, 1 day at HS and a day at the end that is unscheduled where we will re-visit our favorites or divide between 2 parks where we didn't end up seeing everything we wanted. It's still not enough. LOL.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I think the amount of time you spend is completely unpredictable. It's impossible to know what random thing a child might find interesting on any given day. When I was a kid I despised the countries and could easily skip all of them, any amount of time in the countries was too much time! My son, who is 3, hasn't shown much interest in them yet, but he did play with the African drums for about 15 minutes one day.

I think if you allow yourself an afternoon to walk around the countries that should be plenty of time. Some countries you may spend more time in than others, but I think it would be better to really enjoy 2-3 countries even if you run out of time for the others. Also, check out the Phineas and Ferb detective thing for your 7 year old. That activity is really awesome and makes the showcase come alive.

 

[Purrkins]

Most Kidcot interactions can be done in about 5-10 minutes. Still, you never know what a kid might suddenly want to do. Norway became a 90-minute stop as all my 3 year old wanted to do was color color color. He still talks about coloring in Norway. "Epcot had rides?"

 

[ktlm]

It is difficult to predict how long they will spend at the KidCot stations, but it probably depends a lot on your kids different ages. At ages 2 and 3, my DD could have spent all day in the Kidcot stations, but that was back when they had the masks and you could be more creative and fun in coloring. Now, they get their choice whether to color a Duffy Bear or Perry. Once they have it colored, they go from station to station and get a stamp from the different countries and interact with the CM from that country who is sitting there. At ages 5 and 6, DD still wanted to do a quick coloring job, but she was far more interested in doing the Kim Possible (age 5) and now Perry (age 6) missions than messing with the Kidcot stations. If your 7 year old likes Phineas and Ferb at all, you are probably going to be begged to do multiple missions.

As far as Epcot in general, DD has loved it there since she was 2. That first trip we spent 1 day there, and every year since it has been a 2 day park for us. Our first day, we usually start off around rope drop in Future World, hit Biergarten around noon for lunch, and then we spend the rest of that day exploring World Showcase and leave about the time Illuminations starts (DD doesn't like Illuminations). Between the characters, the entertainment acts, the shops, the boatride in Mexico (which she rides multiple times), Pick a Pearl in Japan, the drums etc. we can easily spend the full day in WS. DD also really enjoys the movies about the different countries, but that may not be the norm for kids in that age group. This past trip, adding in the Perry missions from every country that they were available, we didn't even make it all the way around World Showcase our first Epcot day.

 

[jewel71]

Thanks to everyone who's weighed in so far.

I have all girls ages 7, 6 and 4 (just turned) and we don't watch Phineas and Ferb (hate the show actually, lol!) so I doubt we'll do that.

So no masks at the KidSpots? That's a bit disappointing. I've heard vaguely of this new Duffy bear, but have no idea who Perry is. Maybe we won't spend as much time at the KidSpot stations as I think.

If we only have 2 days at Epcot, would you skim over Future World to spend more time in the World Showcase? And this question is directed to any and everyone.

 

[jewel71]

I had planned to do Test Track and Soarin', but now I'm rethinking both of those. Test track especially. And Soarin' is really just a shot in the dark, I guess, whether your child will love it or hate it.

We definitely plan to do all of the Seas, as well as Living with the Land. Also Spaceship Earth and Club Cool, and the Jammitors if we have time. Really we can do all that in half a day I imagine, the only problem is if we're viewing Illuminations on one of our Epcot nights, we will need to go back to our resort for a break, otherwise we won't make it.

 

[CarolineB]

Thanks to everyone who's weighed in so far.

I have all girls ages 7, 6 and 4 (just turned) and we don't watch Phineas and Ferb (hate the show actually, lol!) so I doubt we'll do that.

So no masks at the KidSpots? That's a bit disappointing. I've heard vaguely of this new Duffy bear, but have no idea who Perry is. Maybe we won't spend as much time at the KidSpot stations as I think.

If we only have 2 days at Epcot, would you skim over Future World to spend more time in the World Showcase? And this question is directed to any and everyone.

I would not skim over Future World with kids 7, 6, and 4 -- I think they would like the Nemo ride and looking at the fish and the dolphin demonstration -- the dolphin demonstration is only held 2 times per day -- it's about 15 minutes long -- send a "runner" to the 2nd floor of the Living Seas exhibit (you can enter through the gift shop) to find out the times of the dolphin demonstration. They also have divers that feed the fish that's fun to watch too and the fish feeding times are posted as well. Turtle Talk with Crush is an interactive show with Crush the Turtle from the movie Nemo and is very fun for children and entertaining for adults as well. The children sit on the floor in front and can ask Crush questions.

I would take the kids on Spaceship Earth -- there are a few games to play after you exit Spaceship Earth.

I would also do the Living with the Land boat ride, Circle of Life movie, and Soarin' in the Land Pavilion.

Universe of Energy is a maybe -- my 9 year old (he was 8 when our APs started) was scared of the dinosaur part of the ride.

He also was scared of the Captain EO movie but I would take the kids on the Journey into Imagination with Figment ride located in the same pavilion as Captain EO.

You can spend a lot of time in the two Innoventions buildings so you need to have a plan about this -- it closes at 7:00 p.m. Some of the activities are educational like recognizing fire hazards (Where's the Fire) and some are just fun like playing video games (it's just a wall of current Disney video games that are available for purchase like Toy Story 3, Cars 2.) You could easily spend a few hours in Innoventions especially if it's busy. Sum of All Thrills might be fun for older kids -- check height requirement (This activity can have long lines -- if you're interested -- go early.) Great Piggy Bank adventure is cute and fun for little kids. Look at the Disney website for descriptions of all of the activities available so you have a plan.

Mission Space and Test Track -- my son likes both. If you want to design a car for Test Track -- this can only be done in the stand by line not Fast Pass.
When you exit, Test Track, there are more games that you can play so if your younger kids cant ride, you can meet up there. When you exit Mission Space, there are games and a play area so you can meet there like Test Track.

 

[davedmaine]

Our kids are small (3 ages 7 and under), so I definitely want to make time at Epcot for the KidSpots to do the crafts, but I'm not sure how much time to allow for that. Can anyone elaborate on the type of crafts they have the children doing? Are they short, little 5 min. projects or something more elaborate?

To not feel rushed, how much time should I allow for each pavilion (not including shows/rides in the ones that offer them)?

There are no crafts, just coloring.

 

[CarolineB]

Most kids seem to be content coloring one duffy or one agent P and then just getting their stamp at each country.

If you don't want to use the time to go to each kidcot station to get the stamps then wherever you pick up your duffy or agent P will have one stamp and picture of the flag hand drawn on the back by the CM.

If you want to make more out of the kidcot interaction at each country, then you can buy a passport. The passport will have about 5 stickers for each country that is placed in the passport. There's a place for a message from a cast member written to your child. My wanted to do this on one visit and it was fun for him. We have APs so I let him do this on one visit to EPCOT -- I took pictures of each CM signing his passport. Some CMs were friendlier than others.

He also likes coloring the duffy bears and agent P and has a little collection of them at home -- on some visits, he colors a new one at each country but we're local and time isn't really an issue.

If you come during the Flower and Garden Festival, they have a mask that you can decorate with crayons near the Pride Rock (Lion King) topiary.

 

[jewel71]

Most kids seem to be content coloring one duffy or one agent P and then just getting their stamp at each country.

If you don't want to use the time to go to each kidcot station to get the stamps then wherever you pick up your duffy or agent P will have one stamp and picture of the flag hand drawn on the back by the CM.

If you want to make more out of the kidcot interaction at each country, then you can buy a passport. The passport will have about 5 stickers for each country that is placed in the passport. There's a place for a message from a cast member written to your child. My wanted to do this on one visit and it was fun for him. We have APs so I let him do this on one visit to EPCOT -- I took pictures of each CM signing his passport. Some CMs were friendlier than others.

He also likes coloring the duffy bears and agent P and has a little collection of them at home -- on some visits, he colors a new one at each country but we're local and time isn't really an issue.

If you come during the Flower and Garden Festival, they have a mask that you can decorate with crayons near the Pride Rock (Lion King) topiary.

Yes, we will be there during the Flower and Garden Festival. Good to know about the mask.

 

[bytheblood]

I would say 15 - 20 minutes.